In the Dead of Night
by ProcrastinatorandLazyBoy
Summary: Gotham City; a place whose streets are littered by thugs, corrupt cops, gangs, mobs, murderers, crazies, and all sorts of lovely people. Its only line of defense is a guy dressed up as a bat and a boy at his side. So what's a street rat to do when she can't handle the streets anymore? Make sure the streets can't handle her. Rated T for language and content. I own nothing. Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This chapter is under construction.**

_Chapter 1_

**GOTHAM CITY**

**May 2, 01:27 EDT**

I am the biggest freaking idiot that the East End has probably ever seen. They told me to keep my head down and my mouth shut, but what do I do? I friggin' look right at the head honcho and call him 'Shizzle Cesar Shorty with a side of Sheik Fatness'.

What does that even mean?

Now I'm being used as an 'example' to show the other girls what happens when you disobey.

_Good job Andy._

Another fist connects with my face, causing my head to snap back with force and then my neck to slowly loll forward. Blood pours from my face as it hangs limp against my chest.

"You learn your lesson bitch," asks the punk punching me, with a thick Romanian accent.

It's funny how Mr. Shizzle won't do this himself; we wouldn't want to dirty his hands with my blood now would we? He just stares me down, rubbing his gold ringed fingers with his purple suit and tie while draped with a fur cape and white hair with gold rimmed, pink tinted sunglasses, waiting for my answer; an answer to a question that I wasn't supposed to answer. I just put my head back down.

I'd heard about girls being taken off of the streets by Dragos Ibanescu (a.k.a. Mr. Shizzle) and his crime ring. I guess I just never imagined that I'd be one of them; that I was too smart for them to catch.

Man was _I_ wrong.

I feel a hand grab my hair in a tight grip, yanking my head up by the roots to meet his rat face.

Now, my Romanian is a bit rough but what Ibanescu said next to his men pretty much brought back on my fight.

It was something about branding.

I struggle against the hands that now bound me to my chair as another asshole emerges with a glowing rod. Another pair of hands rips the sleeve of my sweatshirt and pushes away the material to expose my shoulder. As the one with the glowing rod advances to me, I use my legs to kick out and continue to struggle for escape.

"Get away from me you asshole!"

Okay I'm panicking.

Can you blame me?

Some more hands strap down my legs and another whacks me in the face. Then something presses up against my skin, right under my collar bone.

I never understood why people screamed when they were being hurt. Seriously, if someone was hurting another on purpose, they probably wouldn't stop because of some screams. A part of them took pleasure in it; wanted to hear that pain. Screaming was like a gift to them. And yet here I am, screaming my head off, giving these fuckers what they want, and for what? No one is going to _'save me'_, no one was going to call the cops. You kidding me?

This is Gotham.

It actually takes me a second to realize that it was me screaming. All I can focus on was the pain that bubbled up inside of me, burning from that point of skin beneath my collar bone and spreading throughout the rest of my body. As if it all was on fire.

I can feel it, my skin was now marked, owned by someone else.

I'm now just a thing.

Another one of their 'dogs'.

And here I am singing to them.

The rod pulls away from my skin and they all leave me. I stay where I am, trying to calm myself down.

I don't have the heart to look at my new 'feature'.

I have the rest of my life to do that.

There is a noise to my right and I look lazily to it's direction, only to see half of the other girls that were with me being pulled away.

Suddenly, an anger floods up inside of me. They made me pity myself.

"You fucker," I snap my head back to the crime lord. I'm not exactly sure if Dragos understood what I said, but regardless he just smirks and walks in the direction that the girls were dragged to. The Gorilla that first 'seasoned' me took Dragos' place.

"You're going to work the Track, quota starts at $300 a night. You pretty lucky, normally I start higher," _Pah, how lucky am I?_ "You come back without the cash, lets just say this won't be your last beat'n. Now…" I notice a shadow behind him, it was quick and I actually can't tell if it is something that I really saw or not. I search the back of the warehouse, trying to get a look at any more 'shadows', but I can't see past the crowd of thugs working around dog cages.

There's suddenly some movement in the back and one of the men randomly disappears.

_Ookaaay. _Am _I seeing things?_

"Bitch you listen'n to me?!" My head jumps up to be greeted by the barrel of a gun.

There's some more movement in the back and more guys start disappearing quietly, completely unnoticeable by anyone else.

I finally catch a glimpse of the 'shadow'.

_Ah man, really? _

Of course here comes the Batman saving the day and here I am tied up like a fuck'n damsel in distress.

_Whoop-de-do._

_Insert sarcastically enthusiastic finger circles here._

"Where'd you take those other girls?" I stare back down the gun intensely, probably going cross eyed, like I was challenging it to a fight.

A fight that I'd probably lose.

He presses the gun forward to my forehead forcefully.

Yup, it'd win.

"You wanna join them?"

"Well that'd depend on where they were going. I hear the Bahamas are beautiful this time of year. Well, every time of _every_ year." I'm totally being sarcastic; it's basically pooling out of my mouth like drool, just egging him on.

He pulls the gun back from my face, only to come back and whip it across my cheek. I bite my tongue, not sure if it was on purpose or not, and take deep breaths at the feeling of my cheek cracking open and caving into my mouth.

Is it bad that I have _Hit Me With Your Best Shot _stuck in my head?

_Did I just say that outloud? _

"Do you wanna die?" His face gets all up on mine, trying to intimidate me and it was kinda working.

"Uh, yeah," I nod thoughtfully. "Yeah, let's do that."

There's suddenly a loud cry that echoed throughout the place; which is pretty impressive due to the amount of activity going on, causing the gunslinger Gorrilla and basically all of Dragos' other men, that were still remaining, to wave their guns around in the air like lunatics.

I look back at the other girls behind me on the floor. They're completely terrified, balled up in a fetal position or just frozen in place.

_Ugh, what am I supposed to do?_

Unfortunately, Gunslinger decides that for me. He grabs me and hauls me up so that I was standing in front of him, shoving his gun to the back of my head.

"Stay back or I'll shoot her brains out!" I roll my eyes and wince.

"_Please_ stop yelling, your voice is annoying."

"Shut up!" His hand grips the material of my hood as he basically flings me around like a ragdoll. The lights starts going out one by one with a pop, causing Mr. Grabby behind me to back up and drag me with him. There is only one light left that's behind us, so the entire warehouse is completely covered by darkness except for the few rays of moonlight coming in through the windows.

The sounds of the other men stop and I look to my right and see that the others girls had disappeared, creating this silence throughout the room.

_ I hope the girls are okay._

An urge to get the hell outta dodge flies through me. I throw my elbow up like an idiot to the Romanian behind me with a force that causes me to turn around and face him.

A shot rang out.

_ The turd just shot me._

It feels like I've been punched in the gut by a javelin.

"Ugh." I clutch my stomach and sink to my knees, taking deep breaths.

"Get your ass back up." He grabs me by the elbow and hauls me back in front of him.

"Look man," I can feel the blood soaking into my shirt and I'm starting to feel drained, "you just shot your one and only hostage. If you let him take you in, you'll be out before morning. Dragos'll just make a little call and the cops will let you go. Just-"

"Shut _up!_"

That's when I saw him, like actually _saw _him. It's like staring into the eyes of the tiger.

But you know, instead of a tiger it's a bat.

So it sounds a lot less catchy.

_ Hey! _Now he can't be ripped off by Katy Perry, too!

"Let her go." That voice made us both tremble with fear.

Man this guy is intimidating.

The gun is shaking at my temple and I'm starting to get dizzy, so I really don't want to keep standing here. Next thing I know, I'm swung around and hit my head, face first into the wall.

_~Woot~_

**GOTHAM CITY**

**May 2, 02:09 EDT**

"-stopped, but there's not much else I can do here. She needs to get to a hospital." I open my eyes quickly and look around. I'm in some room and there are voices coming from behind the closed door. Looking down, I see that I have a white sheet over me and I throw it off.

My hoodie and shirt are on the chair to my left and I jump up to get them. I then regret my fast action.

_ Oh yeah, I was shot. _

There is a bandage taped securely to my wound and my face is throbbing due to the treatment I was previously given.

Still, I reach for my clothes and put them on carefully then make my way over to the window and slide it open.

"Don't." I look back at The Batman and Robin in the doorway.

_ When did they get there?!_

I look out the window, to freedom, then back at the duo, trying to decide my best course of action.

_ They'd catch me._

I sigh, _Yeah… _

I shut the window slowly and clear my throat.

"Um… I, uh, was just getting some fresh air," I lie. They know it.

Another figure steps around them and comes up to me.

"Come lay down dear." She leads me back to the bed and sits me down.

"Dr. Thompkins?" I stare at her white hair and blue eyes. I went to her a couple of years ago for some help with…

"It's been awhile since I've seen you." She smiles at me and then lightly pushes me onto my back by my shoulders.

"What's your name?" I look up at the masked face of Batman.

"Andy."

"How old are you?"

"Eighteen." His eye slits narrows at me, detecting my lie. I roll my eyes. "Twelve," I answer honestly this time and sigh. "Look, can you just let me go? I- What are you doing?!" Dr. Thompkins has a needle in her hand, ready to sink into my arm.

"It's just something to help the pain," she explains, looking confused.

"I don't need that. Just let me go," I try to get up, only to be held back down by Robin.

"We will, just chill," his voice sounds very boyish and I stop struggling to look at him.

"Psh, talk about twelve! How old are _you_?" He lets me go and gives me a look."What? You guys can ask but I can't?" They didn't say anything. "Whatever." I feel my arm being lifted again by Dr. Thompkins and I yank it from her grasp.

I don't like needles. Sue me.

"Look, it'll only be a second and you'll feel better."

I've heard those words before.

"No. I don't-" She did it. She just stuck it in my arm and gave me the shot. I look at her, eyes wide. My chest tightens; I start to breathe quickly and I feel like I'm about to throw up.

Dr. Thompkins pulls away from me and gives me this smile like she is reassuring me or something. I close my eyes and try to control my breathing. I pull my sleeve down over the injection site and circle my arms around my torso, trying to keep my heart from beating out of my chest and my head to stop spinning. Betrayal bangs in my heart and I tighten my arms around me for protection.

"Do you know where Dragos Ibanescu went," Batman asks me and I turn my head to him, trying to focus on something other than the whole needle situation.

_ He didn't catch Dragos?_

"No. He probably went with the other girls."

"What other girls," Robin asks.

_ Don't they know anything?_

"They split us in half. I was with the group that was supposed to stay and work here but some were taken off to be sold or something." I start to feel drowsy, probably because of that drug that Dr. Thompkins gave me. "Its been happening a lot lately." The drug is really kicking in. My body starts going numb and my eyes keep sliding shut. I was just about to give in when a thought pops in my head and I reach out to grab Batman's arm.

"Don't take me to an orphanage."

Then darkness takes over me.

_~Woot~_

**GOTHAM CITY**

**May 2, 08:26 EDT**

The sound of something beeping wakes me up and I slowly open my eyes to a white ceiling. I look around and see a nurse next to me.

"Oh, hello. You're awake," _No duh._ "Let me just get your doctor, okay sweetie?"

_ Do I have a choice?_

She leaves quickly and I groan.

The Batman may not have taken me to an orphanage, but the hospital will.

_ Well played Bats, well played._


	2. Chapter 2

**_I am so so so so so so sorry! I've gone through some... issues during my time writing this and it kind of took a toll on me (aka: major writer's block). I just want all of you to know that I still love this story so much and have every intention to continue it. With that in mind, I'd like to make note that I am kind of nervous about my writing in this chapter, like I hope I didn't make anyone OOC. Anyway, I'm done with this author's note. I just hope ya'll enjoy and review (nicely, because I'm sensitive and can only take criticism if it's actually helpful.)_**

_Chapter 2_

** GOTHAM CITY**

** November 19, 22:32 EDT**

"You took it!"

"No I didn't, you bitch!"

"You're the bitch, slut!"

"Enough! It's like almost eleven o'clock, can you guys please just not do this for one night? I need my beauty sleep," I hear from my bunk mate, Bryn, above me.

"What the fuck ever, B. You know there ain't enough time in the world for the amount of sleep that you'd need to make you beautiful," Camry says, now turning her vengeance onto Bryn. I roll my eyes and turn over in my bed, trying to go back sleep.

_This is fucking ridiculous._

"Yeah," I hear Jane jump in.

"Girl, who the fuck you think you are," I hear Camry snap, probably to Jane. "You took my brush."

"No I did not!"

"_Yes, _you did. Now give it back!" I hear some smacking sounds and the sudden urge to scream is locked in my throat, just waiting to escape. Instead, I feel pressure on my bed and then I get squished by the girls rolling onto me, continuing their battle. Prying my body from underneath the mass of the _beefcakes_, I try my best to avoid getting any of my own battle scars, but I end up getting my legs caught in the sheets and toppling over into the ground with a thud.

"Hey, _Annie_, you okay," I hear Bryn mock from her position above me. I glare up to her, knowing full well that she doesn't give a shit about me. She just stares me back down with those black, beady little eyes hiding beneath her long blonde bangs.

"Yeah, just peachy," I say with a grumble and get up, dusting myself off.

"You know, you've been here for about six months and you don't really say much, except for some smart ass comment and I'm getting really tired of it," Bryn says with a threatening tone, climbing down to the floor next to me.

"Sorry, I didn't realize that I was here to recite some heartwarming poetry about life," I say snarkily and start to look around for my hoodie.

"You going out again," Bryn asks as I grab my hoodie and pull it on.

"Yup," I give my short reply, now hunting for my shoes throughout the room, looking beneath the dirty clothes on the floor. "Look," I sigh, picking up my worn out shoes from under a pair of (gross) undies, "it's not like I can go back to sleep anyway, my bed is a bit," I look over at the fighting girls, "_occupied._"

"You know we won't always cover for you," she says sharply and I fight the urge to either smack her or laugh as I walk over to the window, sliding it open.

"Don't wait up," I wink and then step out of the window and onto the fire escape. I climb down, trying to make the least amount of noise as possible on the rusty ladder and jump down onto the ground of the alley. I close my eyes, breathing in the November air and take in the sounds of the city around me. The honking horns, the yells of the drunkards making their way home, the sound of police sirens…

I flip up my hood and stuff my hands into my front pocket, trying to block out the bitter cold and walk out of the alley, onto the sidewalk.

_Let's see what kind of trouble I can get into._

_~Woot~_

** GOTHAM CITY**

** November 19, 22:56 EDT**

** (Not even 30 minutes alone)**

_Holy pumpernickle! This guy sure is fast for a fatty!_

My shoes slap against the sidewalk as I run from the chubb-muffin, who's only about four blocks away from catching up to me. I press forward, though I'm not exactly paying attention to where I'm going, only focusing on keeping my breaths controlled and my torn up shoes on.

_ All of this over a damn bag of Doritos?_

I look back at the store clerk, his face is as red as a tomato and I can tell he's having some trouble keeping up.

_ Huh, I may actually get out of-_

Suddenly, I'm not running anymore. The bottom part of my shoe got caught underneath my foot and my toe scrapes onto the sidewalk, causing me to plummet… into another person. It's a shame really, he's dressed quite nicely; black suit with a bow tie. This old dude didn't even see me coming.

I fell face first into him, which caused him to fall, making the woman he was with tumble into another person and so on and so forth. Honestly, someone really should've just yelled timber.

"I am so sorry," I say and get up, leaning towards the man in attempt to help him up too.

"Stay away from me you… _whiffle- whaffle!" _He just waves me away violently, well more like a beetle trying to roll off of his back by flailing his arms around, almost to the point of smacking me.

"Did you just call me a '_whiffle- whaffle'," _I ask and back off of him. "I mean, I've been called names before, but I've never been called _that. _What does that even-"

"Stop her!" I turn back to see the store clerk huffing and puffing only a block away now.

_ Oh yeah, I was being chased._

"I'm sorry," I say again and make my way around the massive pile of nicely dressed people. "Your bow-tie is cool!"

_Bow-ties _are _cool._

I kinda jog through the crowd while looking around at my surroundings. The sidewalks are filled with people, so it looks like there was some sort of party that was happening. I'd try to just blend in, but I'd stick out like a sore thumb next to all of these fancy-pansy people. Escaping to an alley seems like a good option, but it looks like all of them are dead-ends. I weigh my options and look behind me, only to see the store clerk's head bobbing up and down, like a fish looking for food, attempting to see past all of the people to find me.

A car pulls up next to me, it was all black and the windows were tinted to match. I impulsively grab the handle of the door to the back seat, ready to pull on it and jump in but I hesitate.

_Is it really a good idea to jump in the backseat of a stranger's car?_

I pull on the handle anyway and climb in.

_What's life without a few bad decisions?_

I slam the door firmly behind me and turn, only to be greeted by the faces of two very well dressed individuals. They're both male, but one is significantly older than the other, with combed back brown hair and brown eyes to match. The other is a boy, who looks close to about my age, with similarly styled black hair and nice blue eyes.

Pretty boy instantly leans as far away from me in the little of space provided as possible; I did almost land on him on my way into the car, and onto the man next to him with a _'Da hell?' _expression painted onto his face. Mr. Fancy stares me down with eyebrows crumpled together in the middle of his curiously scrunched features.

So, to sum it up, my entrance has shocked them to the point of having constipated faces.

"Miss," I hear a polite British voice from the front of the car, "can you please exit the vehicle?" I shift my eyes from the Men in Black, well boy and man in black, and up to the driver of the car. I then look out the window to look for the store owner, who was still looking around for me.

_ If I can only distract these people to let me stay in here long enough for the Dorito-chaser to pass us…_

"Hello," I greet cheerfully, flipping my head back to the passengers beside me. "My name is Andy and I'm part of the 'Isn't This Just Awkward' Association. So please, from a scale of one to 10, just how awkward is this situation? With one being the highest."

"Wouldn't 10 be the highest," Pretty Boy asks me, seeming to get over his shock.

"Why would 10 be the highest?"

"Because 10 is the _highest." _I roll my eyes at his snot-like reflexes.

"_Please _miss," the old driver pleads politely, "I would suggest that you leave immediately. I'm sure that your parents would not take kindly to the idea of you being in the car of a stranger."

Before I can reply, the car door swings open and I'm being dragged by my hood out of the car. I tried to grab at the seats, but that just brought on a game of tug of war to occur on my hood. I could hear ripping at my ears of the fabric of my hoodie as I struggle to stay in the car. More ripping fills my ears and I'm instantly yanked backwards, flailing as I land, head first, into the sidewalk.

My ears now filled with this ringing and these vibrations racked inside of my brain, causing my eyes to unfocus. I try to shake my head to maintain equilibrium, only to be hauled up by my arm and then held by the torn fabric of my hoodie at the neck.

"H-hey man! Long time, no see! How you been do'n?" I can hear my heart pounding in my chest and exploding out of my ears.

_ He's gonna kill me. He's gonna kill me. He's gonna kill me. He's gonna kill me._

"I am going to give you a hell like you wouldn't imagine."

_Called it._

"You've obviously never lived in a girls' home before. Well," I pause, "I _hope _you've never been in a girls' home, 'cause you're like a man… unless you're _not _in which… You have horrible bone structure, _especially _for a woman," I say as straight faced as possible, honestly trying to ease the situation and my nervous _heart _by adding some humor.

_ Yeah, just insult the guy who's gonna kill you._

"What seems to be the problem here?" I look over to see the man that was in the car stride up to us. He then reaches up to the clerk's hold on me and pries his fingers open, letting me break away.

"She stole from me," he tried to reason.

"I didn't steal anything," I yell, trying to defend myself, "_yet," _I add with a smirk.

"See!" He exclams to Fancy-Suit Man and points a chubby finger to me. "She's a street rat!"

"Dude, what is this? _Aladdin_?" The thought of the _amazing _cartoon pulls me away from the current situation and onto the idea of actually being Aladdin. "Though that'd be cool… Wait!" I point my own finger back at him. "You tore my hoodie! This bad boy worked out for me just fine for two years and now…," I reach behind me and grab the dangling piece of cloth that was just hanging there, exposing basically my entire back. "This definitely cost more than some bag of Doritos, that I _didn't _steal by the way!" Man, I loved this hoodie, it kept me nice and warm during some bad winters.

"All of this is because of a bag of chips?" Fancy- Suit Man looks at me for confirmation, then back to the store clerk and I just hold my arms out at the clerk with a big gesture as if saying '_Yeah. This guy's an idiot. Tada'_, and then do some jazz hands_._

"Ah, whatever," the clerk waves a big flabby arm at me dismissively and walks away with a huff.

"Really? You chase me for like ten blocks only to walk away," I yell at his retreating back. "We didn't even get to _riff raff_, because I'm a _street rat_ who didn't _buy that_ bag of Doritos," I broke off from singing my little speech in the tune of _Aladdin_ to snicker. "Come on! _Let's not be too hasty! I still think they're rather tasty!_" He still walks away, disappearing into the crowd and I finally took the hint that this was over, turning my back to walk away as well.

"Do you need a ride home?" I turn to look back at Fancy-Suit Man.

"Um no, I'll be okay," I give him my '_Please leave me alone' _smile and turn to walk away quickly before he could ask again.

After a few minutes of walking, I stop to peel off my torn hoodie and hold it to me closely, attempting to block out the cold weather. I look up to the dark, cloudy sky and try to think about what to do next. I don't feel like going back to the girls' home, but it's too cold to continue to walk out here without a jacket.

An idea pops into my head and before I could even think about it, I'm already heading to my new destination; my legs carrying me automatically through the familiar streets of Gotham. By the time that I get here, I'm completely frozen. My nose feels numb and all gross due to the snot that I keep having to wipe up with my sleeve. Plus, the snow is starting to pick up; going from a light dusting on the streets to big, fat snowflakes pouring down from the grey sky.

I stop on the sidewalk and look up, taking in the once freshly painted blue house that's now peeling and the windows that are cracked. The wooden stairs of the porch are half torn to pieces, bottles of old liquor line the railing, the screen door is shattered and the front door is beside it, leaning against the side of the house.

_So I guess I can just come on in then._

I take a hesitant step onto the stair and it groans under me. I pause for a second and look up to the shattered glass door, hoping that no one inside heard it. My heart pounds in my ears and excitement runs through my body.

_This is _such _a bad idea._

I take another step, my eyes staying locked onto the front door, and I keep taking more steps until I reach the top of the stairs. My hand shakes; maybe from the cold, probably not, as I reach for the small black handle of the glass door and turn it slowly. I open the door at the same pace and take a step inside.

The instant I smell the familiar gross scent of sweetness mixed with burnt oven cleaner, I start to gag and bring my hand up automatically to cover my nose and mouth. The place looks completely wrecked, even more than the last time I was here. Alcohol, trash, and what looks like body fluids. I take a step into the house, doing my best to avoid stepping on anything that would make noise.

_*Crrunnnch*_

I freeze and listen, but there was nothing but silence, so I take another step.

_*CrinkleCrinkleCrinkle*_

_There were days that I couldn't eat and now I'm stepping on a bunch of bags of chips? So not fair._

I take a few more steps, trying my best to step on the actual floor and not the wasteland around me. I quietly round the corner, avoiding going anywhere near the living room incase _someone _was in there, to head down the hallway, but I start to lose my balance. I reach out to grab onto the table, but instead I take it with me and we crash to the ground.

"Andrea?" My head and body ices over at the sound of her voice, nothing will move except for my pounding chest. "A-" I hear a loud bang and I know who it is.

"What the _fuck _are you doing here?!" _Yup, definitely him._

I instantly get up and run down the hallway before he could catch me. I reach the door and grab the chain around my neck, bringing it over my shirt. I grasp the key next to the dog tags and stick it into the lock of the door. I look down the hall to see him stumbling and falling down in an effort to get me.

_Man, was I lucky that he's drunk. _

_When is he ever _not _drunk though?_

I turn the knob, push through the door and slam it shut behind me, locking it in the process. I lean my back onto the door and sigh.

"You bitch!" I jump at the sudden closeness of his voice just behind the door. "Get out here!" The door, and my body, pounds violently as he beats on it. "Bastard! Open the door, cunt!" I feel one final beat on the door and then it was silent. I put my ear up to the wood and listen to him stumbling away, "Worthless piece of shit…," I hear him slir.

I place my head back on the door with a thud and breathe.

_Home sweet home._

I finally look at the room around me and take in how clean it is. It almost shocks me compared to the dumpster I just walked through. This room is basically kept as a shrine to him. By who, me or my mother, is the real question.

I look down at the chain weighing on my shirt and gently grab the dog tags.

_**ABBOTT**_

_**ANDREW H.**_

_**343-46-4356 AF**_

_**O NEG**_

_**NO PREF**_

I close my hand around them and attempt to swallow my heart back down my throat. After a moment I place them back under my shirt, along with the key for the door, and stand up.

I start to walk around the room, keeping close to the wall, and take in all of the dust from the past four years that's on every surface. I run my fingers over the dresser until my hand runs into an abused bracelet. I stop and pick it up, my eyes stuck on the Warm Fuzzy glued on top.

_'Uncle Andrew, I thought you weren't supposed to keep the Warm Fuzzies,' I giggle and watch him press the fuzzball to the braided bracelet._

_'Well,' he stops pressing on the bracelet and looks at his work, 'where I'm going, these are very rare and I gotta make sure that the next person I give this to really needs it,' he grabs me and pulls me onto his lap, wraps his arms around me and puts the red Fuzzy in front of us. 'This one is too special to give up.'_

_'Isn't that shellfish?'_

'_That's _selfish_, sweety.'_

'_Why would I want to sell fish,' I ask and he laughs._

_'I suppose it is a bit selfish, but,' he fastens it to his wrist, 'this one is from my little Lady Bug,' he squeezes his arms around me then dug his fingers into my tummy, making me laugh uncontrollably as he tickles me, 'and I won't let you go that easily.'_

I take the bracelet and tie it around my wrist then continue to look around the room. I make my way to his closet and open up the door. His clothes are still hung up and separated by pants, shirts, jackets and stuff. I put my hands through the soft clothes as I walk over to his jackets. There are three; one brown, one black and one blue. I take the black one off it's hanger and bring it to my face, taking a deep breath. It still smells like citrus and charcoal; like Uncle Andrew. I remember thinking that it was a really weird combination, but it always smelled really good anyway.

I shrug on the jacket and zip it up, then turn to look at the mirror hanging on the closet door. The jacket basically drowns me, due to the fact that it's about three times too big for me and reaches down to the middle of my thighs.

Wind blowing powerfully against the house causes me to look out the window. It's completely white outside as the storm picked up. Then there's a flash of light.

The hair on my arms stand as shivers wrack my body; it feels like the air is knocked right out of me. I sink back into the closet and close the door, curling into a ball on the cold, and now dark, ground. I sink into my uncle's jacket, breathing in his scent for comfort.

The house suddenly shook as thunder crashed outside. My body shook along with it and I sink in even closer into the jacket, just wanting to stay where I am forever.

_No, Rick is out there, I need to go._

I crawl over to the door knob and use it to stand up, then open the door. I cross the room quickly to the bedroom door, but stop.

_Not a good idea._

I look back at the window and walk over to it. I slide it open as silently as possible and climb out of the room, closing it behind me as I get bombarded by snow. I make my way around to the front of the house to get back onto the sidewalk and walk quickly down the street.

_I gotta get back to the home._

Thunder strikes again and everything around me shakes.

I run.

It was already hard to breathe, what with the cold creeping down my throat and nose and all, but running on top of that makes it almost impossible. Still, I keep moving.

I can barely see past all of the snow and I can't help but feel like a rabbit in a snowstorm; completely swallowed up by it. Thunder growls again and I look around for an escape. My eyes find an alley and I stumble over to it. I plop down next to the dumpster and curl back into a ball.

I have no idea how long I've stayed here, curled up next to this dumpster in this shitty weather. It felt like hours and I could feel myself drifting off into sleep.

_"I've got you."_

_~Woot~_

**GOTHAM CITY**

**November 20, 8:24 EDT**

I'd always imagined that if I were in a horror movie and was taken to be killed, being dragged out of bed by my foot was not the way I'd want that to happen. Though, that's what I thought was happening when I felt that hand around my ankle, yanking me to the ground; only to be showed the opposite with a fist to my face.

But, just for the record, I'd want to be shoved through a vent.

"_Gah! _What the hell man," I yell and look up to the lovely faces of Bryn, Camry, and the other girls.

"We hear that you're getting out," Camry says and kicks me in the ribs, initializing the other girls to join in. I nestle myself into a ball so that they kick my arms and legs rather than my ribs.

"Will you knock it off," I shout and the kicks ease up a bit. "I'm not a pinata! No candy will come out of this finely wrapped package!" I hear someone mumble something and the kicks stop. I feel a hand at my hair and my head is yanked from tucked in my little ball.

"So who is he?" Bryn punches me and then gets on top of me.

"What the fuck are you talking about?" I struggle to get up. "Will you get off? This is a very awkward position!"

"The man downstairs," Camry explains, fist still tangled in my hair, "in a nice looking suit, talking to Miss Liz. Who's he?"

_Who is who? What are they even talking about?_

"How would I know? I've been too occupied with your hospitality," I say sarcastically, earning a nice slap in the face from Bryn.

"You think you're so special. Little orphan Annie."

_What is their problem?_

"I am not an orphan, and stop calling me Annie." I glare between the two. "What's the big deal anyway? I thought you all hated me. Aww, are you gonna miss little old me?" I mock and then I understand. "You guys are jealous." Saying that probably wasn't the best idea, they start hitting me again. I try to defend myself and slam my fist into Bryn's face. She falls off of me and Camry suddenly lets go of my hair.

I scramble up and back away from them all, ready for the fight to continue. Instead, one of the girls, Sofie I think, points to the clock and nudges Camry.

"Time for breakfast," Camry says, leading the girls out to attend to their kitchen duties. "Clean yourself up, don't wanna look bad for your new daddy."

_What. The. Fuck._

I wait a second for them all to leave then slowly walk over to the bathroom, feeling the bruises forming on my torso and arms. Standing in front of the sink, I turn the water on and look at myself in the mirror. My lip was split and my face is throbbing and tender. I lick the cut and taste the metallic tang of my blood then I stick my hands into the warm water, taking in the heat for a moment before splashing it in my face. My thoughts start to go to the man downstairs. Who is he? Why do they think that he's here for me? Why would anyone take me in? None of this makes sense.

I dry my face and go back into the bedroom, looking for my hoodie. I search around my bed, only to find a jacket balled up under the sheets.

_Uncle Andrew's jacket…?_

_Wait, how did I get back here?_

I shake my head, _Worry about it later. _I put on the jacket and head downstairs quietly, walking over to Miss Liz's office to find the door slightly open.

"Well Mr. Wayne, everything seems to still be in order from Mr. Grayson's case. The only issue I'd like to bring to light is on account of Miss Abbott's education. You see," there's some shuffling sounds, "she hasn't had any type of schooling for about three years and we've made _efforts _to get her a tutor for some catching up, but she's reluctant to attend her sessions. We will provide any type of assistance that you'd need t-"

"I have it handled," I hear.

_Is that… Fancy- Suit Man?_

I enter the room without even thinking about it and I'm met by the not- so- amused face of Miss Liz and the almost cocky one of Fancy- Suit Man.

"What are you doing here," I ask.

"Andy, it is rude to enter a room without knocking," Miss Liz says, looking beyond pissed off. I roll my eyes and back out of the room while closing the door, then I knock twice before entering again.

"What the fuck are you doing here," I ask again. One retraction of trouble making equals one free cuss word, courtesy of Brats 'R' Us.

"Watch your mouth."

"That's physically impossible without a mirror," I say back, still watching the man from last night. Why is he here? How did he even know where I was?

"Andy, come sit down." I stay put, for no particular reason other than to be a pain. "This is Bruce Wayne, he's come to take you in."

"Take me in? Does that mean you're adopting me," I ask him and I narrow my eyes into a glare at the man. What's his game?

"No, at least not yet. I am merely taking you in as my ward," he explains with a smile, completely unfazed by my glare face of doom.

"What does that mean?"

"It just means that you will be under my care."

_So... like adoption._

"Of course, you don't have to," Miss Liz jumps in. "It's completely up to you." I look at her face and I can tell that she's hoping that I leave. Call it a sixth sense.

I lick my cut lip again and think about my options. I can simply stay here, in this crappy house with these shitty girls, or go with a stranger that I've only met once, and still call Fancy- Suit Man. Do I really want to stay here though? If things get bad with Fancy Man I can (hopefully) just ditch out.

"Nah, I'll go. This could be fun," I nod to myself and I can almost hear Miss Liz breathing a sigh of relief.

_Yeah, I'm that bad. Good luck 'Bruce'._

"Well then, it seems like you are good to go," Miss Liz smiles cheerfully to 'Mr. Wayne' and stands up with her hand out to him. He takes it and they shake hands. "We will drop her off tomorr-"

"Why not now," I interrupt.

"Excuse me," Miss Liz asks, almost like she's insulted.

"Why not _now," _I say slowly. "I mean, you said that we were good to go." I shrug. "Why waste the time?"

"B-but-"

"I'm good with that," Wayne smiles down at me in agreement.

"But, M-Mr. Wayne. Are you sure-"

"Absolutely," he turns to her and then back to me. "You ready?" I nod then make my way out of the door with him behind me. We walk to the front door and then outside. I fall back to let him lead me to his car, which I probably should've figured out was his due to the fact that it's the most amazing car I've ever seen in my life, and the only one that looks like it'll actually run in this parking lot.

I follow him up to the silver car and slide in, with permission this time, into the passenger seat. He gets in next to me in the driver's seat on his phone. His fingers tap against the screen for a moment before he puts it away in his coat pocket and buckles himself in.

"So, where's your driver," I ask as he starts the car.

"He's at home preparing your room," he says as he puts the car into drive. "Put your seatbelt on." I narrow my eyes at him in annoyance but strap in anyway.

"My room?"

"Yeah, you need a place to sleep right." I turn away to look out the window.

_This could be cool._

It's silent for a few minutes as he weaves through the city to wherever we're going, except for the radio quietly playing in the background.

"So… uh," I clear my throat, "was there a party or something?"

"Hmm?"

"Last night," I clear up. "There were a lot of people all dressed up and stuff."

"Yes, that was a charity ball," he explains.

"And it ended before eleven o'clock? Man, you sure do know how to throw a party."

"Yeah, well, it wasn't _my _party."

"Sure it wasn't," I say and the car gets comfortably silent again. He drives onto the Robert Kane Memorial Bridge to the highway and then gets off on the next exit to the left. Next thing I know, we drive up to these large open gates and go into this big circle drive leading to this humongous house that can only be described as a castle.

He parks in front of the stairs that lead to the front door and turns off the engine before climbing out. I do the same but keep my eyes locked onto the mansion before me and shut the car door by leaning against it.

"Lemme just ask you something," I say to Brucey, still focused on his 'house'.

"What's that?"

"Are you a pedophile?" I turn to look at him beside me to take in his answer.

"What," he asks, taken by surprise. "No!"

"Are you crazy," I try again.

_Is it weird that I feel weird about being completely serious right now?_

"Well, we'd need to talk to my shrink about that." He smiles at me but I can tell that he's being completely serious. I stare at him for a beat, honestly just trying to make him uncomfortable, and then break away to look back at his fortress.

"Okay, let's go."

He leads me to the top of the stairs to the door. It swings open automatically to reveal the driver from last night in only what can be described as a penguin suit.

"Master Bruce, Miss Abbott," he greets us with his fancy accent and steps aside for Bruce and me to enter before shutting the door.

_Holy cow!_

This house looks even bigger on the inside! Just ahead looks like what has to be a giant library, then to my left is another doorway to a living room that is complete with leather couches and chairs and even a giant piano. That's just what I can see though. There even seemed to be even more doors in those rooms and door to my right is closed, plus the huge staircase that split in half, leading to the left and right part of the upstairs. Everything just looks so fancy and breakable. Just the items in this room makes me feel like if I move a muscle in my pinkie toe everything will just shatter into a million pieces. It all is so… elegant and old, but amazing. Hell, there was even a giant fountain in the middle of this room.

"Wow."

"Andy," I pull out of my observations to look at Bruce, "this is Alfred Pennyworth, my butler," he gestures to the man who opened the door for us, then moves on to the Pretty Boy from last night, who is suddenly standing next to Alfred.

_When did he get there?_

"And this is Richard Grayson."

"Call me Dick," Pretty Boy says with a smile and extends his hand out to me.

"On purpose? Are you sure," I ask, unsure and grab his hand to shake once before letting it go. He kinda laughs.

"Yeah, it's just my nickname." There's silence for a second as he looks at me. "What happened to your face," he asks like he's actually concerned. I uncomfortably lick my lip again and look down at the ground before looking back up at him.

"What happened to yours?"

Okay, I'm being a bitch. I just don't really feel like getting into the whole 'Got my assed kicked' talk, but Dick (heh) really is just trying to be nice, I guess.

"I got into it with a door," I try again, "and it won."

"Miss Abbott, may I take your things," Alfred cuts in.

I look around around the room frantically. "Did they turn invisible again?!" I look up to find the butler giving me a disapproving look. "Um no. I have nothing for you to take." I look down, almost ashamed of my behavior. "Thank you though," I offer to the old man and he nods back with a smile, "and please, call me Andy."

"Is Andy short for Andrea," Alfred asks.

"Uh… yeah." _What else could it be short for? _

"Let me show you around Miss Andrea," he says and walks past us to the staircase.

"Just Andy," I protest and walk after him. "Please," I add. He doesn't respond, just keeps making his way up the stairs, then turns to the right stairwell.

It takes a minute to get up all of the steps, then he leads me to the first door on the right. We walk in and he steps aside for me.

I stand at the doorway and stare at the giant room, which seems to be a theme in 'Master Bruce's' life. The room is painted a dull grey, but there are two windows to definitely lighten up the place; one on the left side of the room in front of a wooden desk, and three more that combined to make one massive window straight ahead of me. It's at a type of angle that gives a wide view of the outside and provides a type of big ledge with pillows that looks like it's meant to be sat on.

I move to poke my head into the bathroom, that's only to the left of the door. Let's just say that it's bigger than three of the ones at the girl's home combined with a nice tub and white, clean sink to match. I walk across to the closet at the right of the bedroom door. It has some clothes hanging up on both sides, but not enough to fill it, with a dresser against the wall in between the two rows of clothes.

_I can get used to this._

"We purchased some clothes for you, Miss Andrea, but if they are not to your liking I would gladly go out to get you some that are more to your taste," Alfred says politely. "Are you famished?"

"'Famished'," I ask, slightly embarrassed that I have no idea what it means.

"Are you hungry? Is there anything I can make for you?"

"Well, Mr. Pennyworth," I walk out of the closet and close the door after me, "do you know what a whiffle- whaffle is, because it sounds freaking good."


End file.
